Distract
by TheseMakeTheEchoes
Summary: (Flashback Spoilers) With the added weight of being unmatchable added to her already teetering pile of worries, Sophie decides what she really needs is to visit her best friend.


**Authors Note**

**So, basically this is the preface and first chapter of a fanfic for Legacy I'd been writing. The actual book came out before I got anymore done, but I figured why let it go to waste? It's just one little scene, and it's not very exciting or anything, but if you want to see Sophie and Dex spend a little time together doing something mundane while Sophie sits and frets, then here you go, I guess!**

**Have an awesome day folks! And Happy New Years!**

Preface

_It then occurred to her what she'd been missing and had so desperately needed this whole time. Only now, when everything was finally revealed. And here she was, lost in a darkness so thick she wasn't sure even the strongest light could pull her out of it._

_Everything she'd ever needed had been right in front of her this whole time, within her grasp._

_Now, with the illusions lifted and everything made clear, it only seemed to obvious._

_Only just as it was taken from her reach._

_And now it might already be too late._

"Look, I know you're stressed, but that bowl is going to break if you beat at it any harder."

Sophie looked down at the mess she was making of the solution Dex had handed over to her to stir, a big risk considering how terrible she was at alchemy. The bright purple liquid was sloshing up over the sides and onto the lab table beneath it, steaming as it did so. Quickly, she put a halt to her aggressive assault on the poor mixture. "I'm sorry, I was just…" she trailed off.

"Lost in thought?"

"Something like that." She'd gone over to Dex's in hopes that it would help keep her mind off her worries. She might have transmitted to Fitz for company, or called up Keefe on the imparter, but considering the topic of some of the problems, Fitz was far from the first person she wanted to talk to, and even though she and Keefe had been open about problems in the past, something about turning to him this time just felt… weird.

What she really needed right now was her best friend, though she was just beginning to realize how little time they actually spent together now days. His room looked almost totally different than how she'd remembered it. It was as if Dex had completely rearranged all the furniture so that his lab took priority to everything else, and all his junk was organized.

"Since when did you start using locks?" Sophie asked, inspecting one especially intricate looking one on a cabinet.

Dex sighed, and spun it, "Since the triplets started hanging out around here more. It was a complete nightmare at first. So much broken glass. See over there?" He pointed over to the farthest corner of his room. It was blocked off by a mirror, but that didn't stop Sophie from seeing the puke orange coloured fuzz from showing around the sides, "That was Rex. Thought it would be funny to mess around with some of my vials. It stinks too, but I've been using some stink-shrink powder to combat it. It only works if you're farther than ten feet away from it, though, so I'd still stay back if I were you."

"Is that why you moved everything around?"

He shrugged, "Partially. The lighting is also better, and it's easier to reach things now. I'm no Edaline, you know?" He took the bowl away from Sophie, probably to prevent further harm. A smart move on his part, as she had a knack for messing up even the simplest of poultices.

"Though, Sophie?" He asked, as he poured the purple gloop into a vial.

"Yes?"

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why aren't you at the Vacker's tribunal? I would have thought you'd want to be there for that."

Sophie felt her cheeks burn. She did want to make sure the trial went smoothly, and that Alden and Della would be alright, but she just couldn't bring herself to go. Not just yet. "I guess I'll just have to hear the news a little later," she replied shortly, "It's not like me being there will change anything."

"I'm sure they could use the support."

All she'd be would be more bad news, "Not from me, Dex. I'm sure they'll turn out fine. The council saw the whole thing during the festival."

Dex set down the vial and studied her, "You can't hide from this forever, you know?"

"What?" If possible, her cheeks darkened even further.

"You. Being unmatchable. He'll find out eventually, and it should be from you. The sooner the better too."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed in exasperation, "You're not still trying to hide it, are you? Everybody knows about you and Fitz. And have. For a LONG time. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can smooth this out. And honestly?" He added, "I'm surprised none of us guessed that this could happen sooner. Now that I think about it, it's pretty obvious. Part of the purpose of matchmaking is to make sure that we don't get end up with any close relatives, and since we don't know your biological parents are, they don't know who to cross off your list."

Her biological parents. Sophie froze, her eyes widening. How had she not seen this before? "Of course! You're a genius Dex!

**I miss Dex. Thank y'all so much for reading! If you want to, and can spare the time, please comment and critique!**


End file.
